The prostate gland is a semen-producing organ located in the abdomen of males. Cancer of the prostate gland is an extremely common ailment among older American men. In fact, prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths and the most common cancer diagnosed in men. In 2010, an estimated 90,000 American men underwent radical prostatectomy, a surgery in which their prostate gland was removed. If past experience holds, nearly one-third of these men suffered complications, which at the least were painful and at most required further invasive surgery.
The most common complication, known as bladder-neck contracture, is caused by leakage of urine into the abdomen. During a radical prostatectomy, after the prostate is removed, it is necessary to re-attach the bladder (where the body stores urine) to the urethra (the passage carrying urine from the bladder to the penis). Unfortunately, the conventional hand-sewn five- to six-suture re-attachment (an anastomosis) often does not result in a leak-proof seal. Consequently, urine can leak from the bladder into the abdomen until the anastomosis is sealed, which can take up to five days. Such leakage causes scarring, which in turn leads to bladder-neck contractures. A patient suffering from such a contracture typically is unable to urinate and requires painful and expensive intervention.
In addition, with the robotic approach, the urethral vesicle anastamosis can be one of the most challenging components of the surgery. In the most-experienced hands, this can add thirty minutes to the operation, and in the hands of a novice, it can add one hour to the operation.
Accordingly, it can be seen that needs exist for improved ways to re-attach the urethra to the bladder. It is to this and other solutions that the embodiments of the present invention are primarily directed.